The present invention relates to flooring products such as laminate floors, wood floors, and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system to join together floor panels to form a floor surface using an adhesive system.
Many European producers of laminate flooring have relentlessly innovated products to strengthen their position on the flooring market. The latest development efforts have resulted in successfully introducing the glue-free laying system. The connection of the plank is primarily based on a mechanical click of the tongue and groove. Therefore, it is also called a mechanical locking system. Recently, rapid progress of glue-free laying systems was made, which had a tremendous impact on the market place due to the overwhelming acceptance of the glue-free system in the installation community and do-it-yourself market. For 2001 and 2002, virtually all laminate flooring producers had a click system for their products.
The majority of consumer complaints on glued bonding systems were caused by either too much or too little or wrong glue application. As a result, the planks were not joined together properly. The most common problems were seam peaking, a gap at the joint and plank separation, and the like. All of these problems were apparently solved with a mechanical locking system. In addition, the glue-free laying system has significantly reduced the time needed to install a floor and also provided a more comfortable feeling during the installation process by hearing the click sound which is the indication of the planks being joined in place properly. Furthermore, the glue-free laminate flooring can immediately be open to foot traffic without concern of any glue set-up time which could take up to 24 hours. In addition, removing the glue squeezed out of the joint and onto the surface can be very time consuming.
A mechanical locking system has provided significant benefits in the ease of installation, namely, it makes the installation faster, neater, and provides a better fit of the plank joint. However, the requirement to tilt the plank at certain angles to connect the end tongue of one plank in the end groove of the other plank already laid on the floor can be a challenge for the beginner or even an experienced installer. Furthermore, after attaching the short joint, the long side of the joints must be connected by lifting the planks to let the tongue go in the groove of the previous row and fit the planks in place. This procedure has caused some problems for the installer. First, to lift the planks of the entire row prior to connecting the long seam to the previous row can separate or loosen already connected planks from the connection.
Also, the joint strength of planks on a mechanical locking system is typically not as strong as that of the planks connected by glue at the joint. The weak joint strength can potentially cause the joints to flex up and down vertically and move left to right horizontally under heavy traffic or long term traffic exposure. The consequence of this weak joint strength is to form gaps/openings, which can be susceptible to moisture and dirt penetration and thereby create an unpleasant appearance.
Furthermore, in the manufacture of the flooring, the mechanical locking system typically requires running slower production speeds to minimize the dimensional variation and damage of the delicate profile configuration of the tongue and groove. Even with a slower operation speed, the scrap waste and off quality products is still relatively higher than the standard tongue and groove products. In addition, the tongue and groove profile of a mechanical click system typically is a larger dimension than that of standard tongue and groove. It requires more materials to machine into the adequate profile. From the amount of material point of view, the mechanical click system uses up more material.
In addition, laminate flooring and other flooring which is connected by connecting systems, such as complicated tongue and groove designs and other joint connections, are typically done with no adhesive between the joints. Many of the commercial products simply rely on the connecting system, such as a tongue and groove, to hold the panels together. However, this type of system has many flaws in that moisture and debris can enter the cracks created between the joints of the floor panels. The introduction of debris and moisture can cause the buckling or swelling of the product especially when the product contains particleboard or fiberboard underneath the wear layer. Also, once debris is located between the joints of a floor panel, this debris is quite difficult to remove, is unsightly, and can lead to further separation of the panels from each other.
In addition, a simple connecting system, such as a tongue and groove, with no other means to connect the panels together can at times lead to an uneven connection or loose connection which again is undesirable for purposes of walking on the surface as well as visual appearance. While adhesives can be used and applied to the joints of each floor panel, the application of the adhesive can be messy, expensive, and time consuming with respect to installing the floor surface. In addition, the application of the adhesive on the joints of the floor panels can be done unevenly and thus lead to the possibility of moisture penetrating those areas where adhesive was not adequately applied.
Accordingly, there is a need in the industry to overcome the above-identified problems and provide a floor system which adequately joins the floor panels together and yet avoids the problems identified above.
A feature of the present invention is to provide a flooring system, such as a laminate flooring system or hardwood flooring system, that has improved moisture resistance between the joints and is not susceptible to damage caused by moisture entering the joints of floor panels connected together.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a flooring system which avoids the need to apply adhesive at the site of installation and further avoids the uneven application of adhesive to the joints of the floor panels.
A further feature of the present invention is to provide an adhesive system which is easily activated at the time of installation and yet remains inactive during storage prior to installation.
A further feature of the present invention is to provide a flooring system with an adhesive system that adequately joins the joints of a floor panel together to provide sufficient joint strength and resistance to water.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present invention. The objectives and other advantages of the present invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the description and appended claims.
To achieve these and other advantages, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention relates to a floor panel having at least two side edges, wherein one side edge has a first adhesive component present on at least a portion of the surface and the second side edge has a second adhesive component present on at least a portion of the surface, wherein said first adhesive component comprises at least one crosslinkable acetate polymer and at least one water-soluble polymer and the second adhesive component comprises at least one non-crosslinkable acetate polymer, at least one water soluble polymer, and at least one crosslinking agent.
The present invention also relates to a floor panel having at least one side edge that has either a) a first adhesive component on at least a portion of the surface of the side edge or b) a second adhesive component on at least a portion of the side edge, wherein the first adhesive component and the second adhesive component are described above and described in detail below.
The present invention further relates to a floor surface having a plurality of planks joined together wherein at least a portion of the planks are joined together at least in part by an adhesive comprising the reaction product of a first adhesive component comprising at least one crosslinkable acetate polymer and at least one water-soluble polymer and a second adhesive component comprising at least one non-crosslinkable acetate polymer, at least one water soluble polymer, and at least one crosslinking agent.
The present invention further relates to a method for installing a floor surface comprising the joining of one or more floor panels as described above.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are intended to provide a further explanation of the present invention, as claimed.